is in desperate straits with the Delphi mess - they could need all their cash in just a few months, and word is they could burn $1 billion a month if the Delphi folks reject the contract offer and strike. So they are selling like crazy. I guess the deal to sell a major stake in GMAC got held up or something.

ANYWAY, I am sure that one way or another they will sell their Isuzu stake. Not so convinced it will be to Mitsu. But these four will not merge - too much baggage and not enough oomph.

See I like Mitsubishi. They just don't have all the right cars. The Gallant for example is just not quite good enough to compete with the camcord crowd and get's lost on peoples shopping lists. Mitsubishi does make a few nice vehicles like the Eclipse and the new EVO looks promising to the fast and furious crowd. They seem to blend with Subaru for some reason in my eyes. Maybe Subaru and Mitsubishi should merge ? :confuse:

nah, they should just dump all the totally blah crap they sell, and become a niche carmaker in America selling nothing but Evos and Ralliart models. THEN you'd be talking. They don't have one single model that really stands out in the crowd, despite recent updates. The brand new Outlander is quickly forgotten. The Eclipse was a boulevardier right from the start, with its pork. The Endeavor? Who cares? The Galant and Lancer? Forget it. The Mitsu name has turned into an unknown in America, kept alive only by the Evo's presence in Fast and Furious movies and the GT video game. And the people influenced by those media don't have the money to buy much of ANY new car.

I'd like to remind any of you who are nay-saying Mitsubishi for offering inferior products that their reason for a sketchy debt situation was their poor financing strategies years ago. They tried to extend easy, often interest-free credit to young kids to get them to buy their sportier cars, though the buyers just drove them around for free and returned them, leaving Mitsu dealers with a used vehicle and nothing to show for it. I've owned Buick, Toyota and even Acura-made vehicles and while good in their own right, I've enjoyed my 2004 Lancer Sportback most of all, which, unfortunately, only saw the US market only briefly.

They do have quality, though it likely has been damaged somewhat by emptier coffers, though what credibility remains is damaged by the current status of their company, mostly caused by a short-sighted financial decision. In the end, most cars these days range from average to pretty darn good. The difference between Toyotas, Hondas and even Hyundais compared to a number of other vehicles made by an array of other manufacturers is, to an extent, negligible. However, Toyota for example, rides on its reputation and marketing strategies, though the vehicles it makes are mostly bland and overprices with a more noticeable decrease in quality than in times past. However, by a majority of US market buyers, they are seen as infalliable and a guarantee for worry-free ownership. It's all in the image and that's something Mitsubishi should remember.

At least their high-end performance models still give them the credibility they deserve; I see some glimmer of a good idea in what Nippon said before about focusing on their Ralliart legacy to remind people about what makes Mitsubishi as good as it was and is. So if they try to market themselves differently or gain a greater presences here in the states, they can salvage their import status to some extent and let their products take care of the rest. Mitsubishi is capable of this - they just have to make some smart, careful moves in the right direction.

"Maybe tiny Suzuki Motor Corp. no longer has to be concerned that sales for its American Suzuki Motor Corp. unit have been evaporating towards near-nonexistence: information from Europe says the burgeoning Volkswagen Group has plans to take over Suzuki by the end of the year."